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0. PRESTON. MAUHINE T0 PLAIT WIRE.

Patented Sept. 13,1892;

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MACHINE TO PLAIT WIRE. No. 482,589. Patented Sept. .13, 1892.

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No. 482,589. Patented Sept. 13, 1892.

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Patented Sept. 13, 1892.

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OTHNIEL PRESTON, OF HORNELLSVILLE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF TWO- THIRDS TOH. O. PRESTON AND O. PRESTON, J R, OF SAME PLACE.

MACHINE TO PLAlT WIRE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 482,589, datedSeptember 13, 1892.

Application filed March 7, 1889.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, OTHNIEL PRESTON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hornellsville, in the county of Steuben and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines toPlait \Vire; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The invention relates to machines for the production of continuous wirecables formed of several strands of wire plaited together, said wirecables being adapted for all the various purposes for which said cablesare commonly used-as, for instance, electric cond uctors, in theconstruction of fences, &c.; and it consists in the construction,arrangement, and combination of parts,as hereinafter described,illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, and pointed out in the appendedclaims.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a machine of this classin which the carriages carrying the wire-reels are caused to partake ofsuch relative movement that they will effect the plaiting of the wirestrands into a cable as said strands are unwound from the reels.

A further object of my invention is to provide suit-able tension devicesand guides between the reels and the receiving-drum, whereby the strandsof wire are closely and uniformly plaited and said strands preventedfrom becoming entangled with parts of the machine.

My invention also has in view certain minor objects, as will becomeapparent from the description hereinafter.

In the drawings,Figure l is a top plan view of my machine with the framein section. Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a sideelevation thereof. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section through the line 3 y,Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a detail of one of the reel-brackets, partly insection, showing the friction-brake. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of thelower part of one of the reel-carriages with the reel-brackets re-Scrial No. 802,349. (No model.)

moved. Fig. 7 is a transverse section through v the center of the sameon the line at 73, Fig. '6. Fig. 8 represents a section of wire braid asplaited by the machine.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like letters of reference denotecorresponding parts, A indicates a frame adapted to support theoperative elements of my machine, said frame being provided withsuitable feet a and a bedplate or table I), supported upon uprights c,said bed-plate or table being adapted to sup port the reel-carriages andreels, as herein after described.

At the rear of the machine is a rectangular framing B, formed by theuprights d and the cross-pieces c, said framing supporting the mainoperating-shaftand other parts, as presently described.

In the formation of the cable I employ three strands of wire, and theconstruction, relative arrangement, and operation of the carriages andreels supporting said strands of wire will now be described.

0 O O are the reel-carriages, and D D D the reels. Inasmuch as thereel-carriages, as well as the reels, are similarly constructed, a

. description of one of said carriages and reels will therefore sufficefor all. The reel-carriage O, for instance, consists of brackets c,bolted or otherwise secured to a plate 0 which during the motion of thecarriage rests upon the upper face of the bed-plate or table, said plate0 having formed integral therewith an elliptical neck 0 and a lowerplate 0 which bears against the under face of said bed-plate.

In the upper ends of the brackets c is mounted a shaft 0 carrying thereel D for the wire, said reel being of the ordinary spoolshaped formstraddling said reel, and loosely mounted upon the outer ends of theshaft 0 is a yoke E, which serves as a guide for the wire as it isunwound from the reel and as a take-up for said wire, or device fortaking up the slack thereof, said yoke being provided with an eye oropening 6 for the passage of the wire.

To limit the vertical play of the yokeupon the shaft while the Wire isbeing reeled off, I

form recesses e in the upper ends of the brackets c, which formshoulders 6 that limit the up-and-down play of the yoke E.

In the employment of wire which may have considerable spring itissometimes the case that during the reeling off of said wire the reels,being loosely mounted upon their shafts, will be caused to rotate toofreely, resulting in a loose plait and oftenin an entanglement of thewire with the parts of the machine. It is one of the objects of myinvention to obviate these difficulties and enable me to em ploy wire ofany temper and spring and yet obtain a uniform and close plaiting of theseveral strands into a cable, and for the accomplishment of this objectI employ the following means: Projecting from the outer sides of thebrackets c are bosses f, each of which is, cored to receive a boltf',the inner end of each ofsaid bolts being provided with a bearing surfaceor head f which bears upon a flange of the reel, said bolts serving thepurpose of a brake to prevent the reel from expending the wire toorapidly. The outer end of each bolt is threaded for the reception of anut f and withinthehollow bossandsurroundingthebolt is a coiled spring fone end of which bears against the head f of the bolt and its oppositeend against the outer wall of the boss.

I have hereinabove stated that the plaiting of the strands of wire iseffected by the relative movements of the reel-carriages, and I will nowdescribe the manner in which and the means whereby the desired movementsare imparted to said reel-carriages.

The bed-plate Z) is cut away to form two circular openings 9 g the outeredges of which openings converge to form a contracted space intermediateof said openings.

channel H is formed, having the form of the figure 8. The plates areplaced in position with their noses f opposite each other, as shown.

Upon the stud g is loosely mounted a gearwheel G, the stud g carrying alike gearwheel G, with which meshes the gear-wheel G. The gear-wheel Gis provided upon its upper face with fiat plates it, having the relativeposition shown. The outer ends of said plates are slotted to formfingers h,said fingers being of sufficient length to project beyond theteeth of the gear-wheel. The gear-wheel G is also provided with threeplates 7L2, similar to the plates h, but which, however, are not flat,but are made angular or raised at their outer ends, so that they willpass over the fingers h of the plates h when the gear-wheels revolve,the outer ends of the plates 7L being slotted to form fingers 71 of alength to project beyond the teeth of gear-wheel G. In

arranging, the gear-wheels they are made to mesh so that when revolved aplate It will come directly beneath a plate h ,-the fingers on thelatter plate lying directly over the fingers of plate h.

I have above stated that the plaiting of the wire strands is effected bythe relative movements of the reel-carriages. Said movements areaccomplished through the media of the plates and their fingers in thefollowing manner: Projecting from the under side of each of the plates 0of the reel-carriages is an annular boss or pin 72 of sufficient lengthto pass down between the fingers of the plates h h when said fingersoccupy the position shown in Fig. 4.

We will suppose, for instance, that the carriages are in the positionshown in Fig. 1. When the gear-wheels are revolved and the carriage Oarrives at the central portion of the guideway H-that is to say, at thepoint where the portions H H are nearest each other-the boss or pin h onsaid carriage will be standing between the fingers h h as shown in Fig.4, and upon a continued revolution of the gear-wheels the nose of theelliptical neck 0 will, owing to the nose f be forced to project acrossthe portion H tangentially t0 the outer edge of the opening g and theboss or pin it will be guided from the fingers h? to the fingers h.Before the carriage O arrives at the position just occupied by thecarriage O the carriage G will cross from the right to the left and beguided in the opposite direction to that taken by carriage C. Whencarriage C has crossed, carriage C will then come in position to beguided from the left to the right, and so on, each carriage being causedin its movements to follow the guideway, or, in other words,

into a cable.

For driving the gear-wheels by hand or other power I employ thefollowing 'means: I indicates a vertical shaft stepped at its lower endin the lower cross-piece e of the framing B and its upper end passingthrough the central cross-piece e of said frame. Near the lower end ofthe shaft I is secured a gear-wheel I, which meshes with a pinion l on astud 2', secured to the lower cross-piece,

said pinion 1 meshing with the gear-wheel G. The upper end of the shaftIcarries a bevel-Wheel 1 which meshes with a like wheel I on thehorizontal shaft 1 which has its bearings in the arms of .a bracket 1secured to the framing B. The outer end of the shaft I carries a fixedpulley J and a loose pulley J. The inner end of the shaft I carries ahand-wheel J 2 to adapt said shaft to be operated by hand.

In order to provide means whereby the cable may be wound upon areceiving-drum as fast as it is formed, and thereby avoid any danger ofthe entanglement of the cable, and whereby a drawing action may beexerted upon the cable to maintain the same under sufficient tension toproduce a close plait,I employ the following means: J ournaled in armsj, secured to the vertical 'posts of the framing B, is a transverseshaft K, carrying at its central portion a worm-wheel K, which mesheswith a worm 7.; on the shaft 1 One end of the shaft K carries a flangedbelt pulley K Rigidly mounted upon a transverse shaft L, supported in abracket L, which is secured to one of the posts of framing B, is a reelM, which is designed to receive the cable as itis formed. Upon theopposite end of the shaft is secured a belt-pulley M, over which pulleyand the pulley K passes a crossed belt M By this arrangement when theshaft 1 is rotated in the proper direction-that is to say,

to the right by hand or other power-the shaft K will be caused torevolve and with it the belt-pulley K and through the medium of the beltM the shaft L and reel M will be rotated in a direction to cause thecable to be Wound upon said reel.

To provide suitable guides for the cable between the wire-reels and thereceiving-reel, I employ a guide-d rum N, rigidly mounted on the shaftK, and in an arm N, projecting forward of the central cross-piece e isformed an eye n, which serves as a point of bearing for the strands ofwire to enable them to be plaited together, as will be readilyunderstood.

The operation of the machine may be described as follows: The wire-reelshaving been filled with wire and placed in position in the carriages,the ends of the wire strands are passed through the openings 6 in theyokes E, then through the eye n and a turn made around the drum N, andthence backward and secured to the receiving-reel. Motion is thenimparted to the shaft 1 and through the media of the bevel-gears l andI, shaft 1, gear-wheel I, and pinion I the gearwheels G and G arerevolved in the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1. Thecarriages (J O C will thereby be caused to partake of the relativemovements hereinbefore described, causing the strands to be plaited intoa cable as they pass through the eye it. The receiving-reel will,simultaneously with the revolution of the shaft 1 be caused to revolvein a direction to wind the cable as fast as formed and effect a drawingaction upon the same through the media of worm 7t, wormwheel K, shaft K,pulley K belt M pulley M, and shaft L.

It will be seen that with my machine wire having any desired temper andspring can be employed, that a suitable tension is always exerted uponthe cable and strands by the drum N and reel to produce a uniform andclose plait, that there is no danger of the wire strands or thecompleted cable becoming entangled in the machine, and that the cable asfast as it is formed is wound upon the receivin g-reel by the machineitself, thus obviating the necessity of coiling said cable upon the reelby hand.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a reel-carriage shaft having its bearings inthe upper end of said arms, a wire reel mounted upon said shaft,

and a guide and bracket pivoted upon the ends of said shaft andstraddling the reel and provided with a guide eye or slot, the upperends of the arms of the reel-carriage being provided with recessesforming shoulders to limit the vertical play of the tension-bracket,substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the bed-plate provided with the guidechannel,as described, of the reel-carriages provided with vertical bracketssupporting the reel-shaft and having at their upper ends recesses orstops to limit the motion of the take-npyoke,and the take-up yokepivoted to the top of the reel-carriages and straddling the same andprovided with a guide-eye, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the bed-plate pro vided with the guidechannel,as described, of the reel-carriages provided with vertical bracketssupporting the reel-shaft and reel and having at their upper endrecesses or stops to limit the motion of the take-up yoke, the take-upyoke provided with a guide-eye and pivoted to the top of and straddlingthe reelcarriage, and the automatic frictionbrake consisting of thespring-surrounded bolt seated in a recess in the brackets of thereel-carriage and adapted to bear against the flange of the reel,substantially as specified.

4. In a wire-braiding machine, the combination, with the reel carriages,the reels mounted therein, the take-up yokes, and the automaticfriction-brakes, of the bed-plate provided with guide-channels, theintermeshing gearing by which motion is imparted to the reels, theintermediate bracket and guideeye, the receiving-drum, and the gearingby which it is caused to revolve with a speed corresponding to thedelivery from the reels, the whole arranged to give a yielding deliveryto and produce an automatically-regulated draft upon the strands duringthe operation of braiding to compensate for the spring of the wire,substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

OTHNIEL PRESTON. Witnesses:

J. H. MACDONALD, W. F. GARDNER.

